Monday, May 3, 2010

Doctors, to keep our certifications, are required to do 20-30 hours of continuing education per year. Some docs go to conferences. Some do them online. Others do them in writing.

The format is the same. There's always an article, followed by a quiz you have to pass (to prove you really read it), then an evaluation form with some pointless questions (Did you like this CME? How will you change your practice because of it? Was it free of commercial bias? What other topics would you like to see CME on? Are you bored shitless yet?).

Anyway, yesterday I was doing a CME on new MRI techniques in Multiple Sclerosis. While filling out the evaluation form I came across this question.

(click to enlarge)

It is entirely unrelated to the CME topic. I can only assume it was put in there to see if I was still paying attention (yes, I was. And I do wash my hands at least twice a week).

It is better than being told by an insurance company 's (maybe the biggest company) employee :"doctors are a dime a dozen", when i called to enquire as to why they sent payment to patient instead of doctor.

Too all you arrogant docs, just because you made it through med school doesn't mean you can't be reminded of the little things...surveys show it's the "little things" that patients appreciate more than your pomposity.

The "little things" I appreciate from my doctors have to do with their determination to grind through endless, mind-numbing hours of study in order to be prepared to save my life if and when I ever need it. I realize this isn't a popular point of view in the age of the common man, but when you're in a field where lives are at stake, pomposity (arrogance, pride, knowing what you're talking about and KNOWING that you know what you're talking about) isn't a sin. Ignorance is.

Welcome to my whining!

This blog is entirely for entertainment purposes. All posts about patients may be fictional, or be my experience, or were submitted by a reader, or any combination of the above. Factual statements may or may not be accurate.

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